Umbra
by tseug
Summary: Umbra: The death of one person can change everything, even if it sets one person off their goal.


**Shadow Of The Day**

(Song by Linkin Park)

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> I don't own _Naruto._

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><p>Scattered on the flat field were bodies. Bodies embedded with fragments of snapped kunai and broken shruriken. There are ashes. Bodies and ashes. Fallen kunai and twisted shruriken litter the ground, like leaves in the autumn. Except it's spring.<p>

Most bodies were gruesomely twisted beyond recognition, and those identifiable were headless.

Their heads rolled around on the ground, their direction changing with the movements of the wind. Some limbs were scattered here and there, and most were burnt to the point where flesh has been burned away, and only bone is left.

A dark cloud rolled in, and the sun was blocked out by the ominous clouds. The black clouds dumped buckets of water onto the ground, washing away most traces of battle.

The rain mixed with the blood, and diluted it, to the point where it lost its sheen.

The rain merged with the tears of a boy, no older than twenty. The rain flattens his spiky blond hair to the side of his head, but he sits there, staring mindlessly at the body of a girl, about the same age as the boy.

She is dead.

[Line break]

Her pink hair was once matted with blood, but the rain washed away the dirt and grime, from both her face and body.

She is dead, and no matter how much the blond boy wishes she will open her eyes, or take a breath, she will not.

She is dead.

From the edge of the field, where field meets forest, a pale faced, dark-haired boy steps out, and faces the blond. "You killed them all," he said, slowly choosing his words. "You killed your enemies and you allies and _her_."

The blond looked up, and the two boys shared a silent look.

Empty black eyes met bright blue.

_Our teammate._

The blond stood up, exposing ore of the dead body to the air. "Sasuke. . ."

The dark-haired boy looked at the blond. "Yes?"

No names were needed to be said, but the blond could have sworn he heard a 'Dobe,' added on after the question.

"You wouldn't know the really meaning of a teammate nor friendship, Teme," the blond spat bitterly. "Hell, you even tried to kill _me_, your best friend, for power! Is that friendship? Trying to kill each other, just because you wanted power? If we even were friends, it would be gone––years of being friends––just like that! Trust is fragile, Sasuke, it takes years to build, and seconds to break."

Blue eyes flashed red, and Sasuke took a few steps back. "N-Naruto, I can––"

"You are a traitor!" Naruto yelled recklessly, not caring who heard him. "You don't know loyalty, you betrayed all of Konoha! And if you can't know loyalty, how in this messed up, ruined world will _you, _of all people, be able to learn _friendship_?"

"Naruto, I can explain!"

His voice turned low, and Sasuke had to strain his ears to hear what the blond said. "Even if you knew friendship, you wouldn't know how much I loved her."

"Naruto, I was foolish then. I'm smarter now, and I realized that what I did was . . . wrong."

Naruto glared at the other boy, and his eyes flashed red in anger. "So it's Naruto now, huh? Not Dobe, not Loser, not Baka? Are you getting all soft on me, traitor?"

Sasuke stood there, stunned, and Naruto realized how easily the harmful, hateful words slipped out of his mouth.

"Sasuke–!" It was too late. Sasuke turned around, and stalked off towards the forest, and didn't even mutter a goodbye.

Naruto looked at the bodies around him, his only company until a retrieval squad came, to search the battlefields for any survivors.

"Sakura. . ." the name mournfully escaped his lips, and he looked at the pink-haired, limp girl. "We were. . .gonna get married, and maybe have a kid or two. . ." He glanced to his left hand, and the small, simple, silver band that lay there. "An' name him 'Kakashi.' Our final promise to sensei." He added as an afterthought. "Ya know, if we made it through. Alive."

He sat in silence for a few minutes, and finally decided that the retrieval squad wasn't coming. "Guess I'll walk back to Konoha," he said, twisting his engagement ring off his finger. "and clean up the rest of these bodies by myself." He tossed the engagement ring behind him, not caring where it landed.

Naruto walked over to some bodies, and slowly hoisted the nearest one to a large group of them. Once he finished building a pile, he stood back, keeping Sakura's body with him.

"_Katon: Hotobashiru no dangan!"_ (Katon: Flaming bullet!)

The bodies went up in flame, smoke, and burnt flesh.

Naruto turned, grabbing Sakura's body, and walked away, his footsteps echoing in the deserted battleground.

The sun set, the grey clouds cleared, allowing the sun to cast rays of blood on the ground.

[Line break]

They left her body in the hospital for a few days, to run tests on how she died.

People came, people went, but nobody came as frequently as Uzumaki Naruto.

He came, he went, and always left with a sad face. His sad mood did nothing to cheer anyone up, not even the most cheerful people, like Rock Lee and Maito Gai, were loud or boisterous.

Konoha was dull.

Shoes scraped against the floor, the person walking towards Room 79, the 'place of no hope.'

A tall blond, holding a pink card entered, sliding the door open as it was a lead weight. Mournfully, the blond dropped a pink card off, on the bedside table, along with other farewell gifts, including Naruto's previous gifts.

With the addition of the card, the pile toppled over, its contents spilling everywhere.

The blond didn't pick them up.

[Line break]

The funeral was the next day. It was a close funeral, with only close friends and relatives, that were still alive.

Rock Lee and Maito Gai, still mourning the loss of a friend, Tenten, showed up, but didn't say a word throughout the whole ceremony.

Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji were still on the battlefield, helping out some Suna Shinobi.

Nara Shikamaru and Aburame Shino's bodies were never found.

Hyuga Hinata and Neji showed up, the helping the other stand.

Inuzuka Kiba couldn't make it, and Hatake Kakashi was missing, presumed dead.

Umino Iruka and Senju Tsunade were there, and both couldn't bring themselves to shed a tear.

Uzumaki Naruto was the only one that cried.

And for the second time that week, the sun set, casting bloody shadows on the casket, as it lowered into the ground.

The funeral ended with a black sky.

[Line break]

Yamanaka Ino returned to Konoha to find everything she knew broken.

Her father dead, and her mother ran off when she was little. And now, her best friend, or _former_ best friend––seeing Sakura dead––was gone from the planet. In a not-so-good way.

She cried. It was the easiest thing to do.

Yamanaka Ino made a resolution–to be a better, stronger, more helpful person, one who won't be a useless weight.

She was gonna be the next big thing.

[Line break]

Rock Lee walked home from the funeral a changed man. Now nearing twenty, he should retire, and maybe settle down with a wife and two kids.

But he couldn't. He couldn't find a girl he liked. Only Haruno Sakura was good enough to catch his eyes, and now he couldn't find anyone else.

So Rock Lee decided to not marry.

Rock Lee was going to give up love to be a better Shinobi, even if he died to do that.

He didn't settle for being good at Taijutsu, and not just great either. He was going to be the best person–best Shinobi–that couldn't use Chakra.

Ever.

[Line break]

Hyuga Neji didn't care who lived or died, as long as they won the war. He didn't really care who died, as long as they didn't die betraying their nation.

All Neji remembered Haruno Sakura as, was the little girl who just wanted Sasuke's attention.

He wished he didn't see her for the last time, seeing her as a little bratty fangirl.

He still regrets not talking to her.

[Line break]

Hyuga Hinata thought Haruno Sakura was a nice girl, but she could be a little mean at times.

She thought maybe in Sakura's earlier years Sakura could've tried a little harder, and maybe Sakura would've been a little better.

Despite Hyuga Hinata being on Haruno Sakura's death investigation team, she doesn't know how Sakura dies.

And she hopes she won't ever know.

Because she doesn't want to ever know how her classmates died.

Hinata hopes her death comes by surprise–she doesn't want to know how it happened.

[Line break]

Akimichi Choji was sad. He was still sad from his best friend, Nara Shikamaru's death, and now his not-really-a-friend friend, Haruno Sakura has died.

And on top of that, Ino is crying.

And Ino crying isn't good.

Choji knows that he has a lot to handle. But he thinks he can take it all, head on, and still stand up after.

He hopes he can do that.

He wants to do that.

But sometimes, all Choji wants is not to be a Shinobi.

Sadly, he is a Shinobi.

But he'll keep being a Shinobi because it's the right thing to do.

And Choji likes doing the right thing.

[Line break]

Uchiha Sasuke watched the funeral from the trees. He was glad the Shinobi were distracted, otherwise he would be dead meat.

He knows he's a traitor, like Naruto told him.

He knows Haruno Sakura used to like him, but liked Naruto until her death.

And he wishes, maybe once, just once, he acknowledged her feelings to him.

He wishes he didn't throw away her homemade soup.

Sasuke likes soup.

[Line break]

Uzumaki Naruto loved Haruno Sakura with all his heart. He knows he'll miss her.

He knew it was her time to die, and so he unleashed the Nine-Tailed Fox, Kyuubi.

Sometimes he wishes he didn't kill her, and let her live.

He wonders what it would be like if he didn't kill her.

Would he marry her? Most likely.

Would they have three babies? Probably one or two.

Would they name their babies after dead comrades? If they had any babies.

Uzumaki Naruto loved Haruno Sakura, and Haruno Sakura loved him back.

[Line break]

One person's, or in this case, three to four people's deaths can change the whole world or universe.

Because three of four people died, the world was changed. Maybe for the better, or maybe for the worst.

We won't know until it happens. And we don't know when it will happen. In a year? In five? Ten? Fifty? A century? A millennium? Million? Billion? Or will the change never happen?

We don't know, and it probably won't ever happen in our lifetime.

Moral of the story?

Rest In Peace,

_Nara Shikamaru_

_Aburame Shino_

_Haruno Sakura_

and _Hatake Kakashi_.

[End]

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> I enjoyed writing this. It was enjoyable, for me to write and read. I hope you enjoy this.


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